 |
||
We publish books that usually involve a crime. Most of those books feature protagonists who are pretty much regular folks who get their world turned upside down by the violence of unexpected situations. More than likely you won't find a kung fu expert, a super intelligent spy, a Mafia boss, a police detective, or a doctor bent on saving the world in any of our books. We believe the power in books lies in their ability to transfer the human condition from author to reader. An insight into life. A feeling of being less alone in the world. All of that, no doubt, sounds pretentious, but it doesn't change the facts of the matter—that's what we publish. Before we started Tyrus Books we built Bleak House Books. If you need a better idea of the kind of book we publish, reading something from the Bleak House catalog might give you a better idea of who we are and our interests. We're going to be honest when we tell you that we've got a very limited niche. If we aren't interested in your book, it doesn't mean that it isn't good. It just means it isn't a good fit for us. That's the nature of the publishing business and you shouldn't take it personally. So, here's what we're looking for. (1) Novel length fiction. The word count of "novel length" seems to switch and move depending on who you ask. If you're over 50,000 and under 150,000 words, you're probably ok. Some stories need less space. We understand that. (2) We are ONLY looking for books that could be considered dark literary or crime fiction (preferably a blend of the two). We DON'T want the following genres: If your crime fiction features an FBI/CIA/CSI type protagonist or a serial killer antagonist, it is not for us. It's just not what we do. We aren't interested in high speed car chases (literally and metaphorically), globetrotting intrigue tales, or anything else that doesn't feature regular type people in extraordinary circumstances. (3) If you've dug around the internet or any of the guides to agents and publishers, you've come across the familiar refrain that publishers/agents are actively looking to reject things. It isn't because we're jerks. It's because the money making part of our business is selling books, not reading the submission pile. Supposing we get 1,000+ queries in any given year and we've got two or three spots to fill in our line up AND we're constantly getting submissions from some very talented and respected agents, it takes an absolutely extraordinary book to make it onto our list. Here are some things you can do to help your cause, not just here, but on your larger publishing journey. (a) Do NOT send in a first draft. Your book should be completely finished. It should be polished. In addition to being very light on typos, grammatical errors, etc. it should also be market ready in terms of pacing, plotting, and overall structure. Some of the people you are competing with are multi-published authors who have already gone through the process. We shouldn't be able to tell that you haven't. (b) Do NOT make any promises of "guaranteed bestseller." Do NOT criticize what's currently selling and tell us you're 100x better. Nobody likes a braggart. Plus, with the unpredictiability of this industry--making promises to show up on the New York Times list shows us that you don't understand how the industry works and that you're probably going to want a six figure advance, too (no, we're not offering). Let your book talk for you. (c) Write something from your gut. We don't want people who jump on trends. We don't want knock offs of popular books. We want something that shows your investment as a human being and as a writer. We want to feel your heartbreak and your joy in a universal way. (4) For right now, all we want from you is an email query. If we're interested in looking at more pages or further discussing the project with you, we'll let you know what we need. Also, (and this is the part that shows us if you've read the instructions and really care about what we want as opposed to shotgunning your book to every email address you can find) if your email to us doesn't say "[QUERY]" in the subject line, it will be deleted unread. Similarly, if you include sample pages of your novel (either in the body, or as an attachment) we'll delete your whole email. ALL we want is your query letter. It should be sent to submissions @ tyrusbooks.com (5) Simultaneous submissions are ok. Just let us know if somebody else picks up your book so we can give you a high five. (6) We love books. If we didn't, we wouldn't have planted our flag in the ground like we have. Even if we say no, please continue to work on your craft and believe in the power of words. We respect the hell out of you for it. |
||